Cadenza
by deceptive-serenade
Summary: Percy isn't so fond of his classmate, Annabeth Chase, but he can't deny that she has amazing taste in music. Music is his life, so when she suggests they go on a road trip across the country to a once-in-a-lifetime concert, he can't say no. No matter how much she annoys him. AU, drabble fic. Punk!Percy, Tomboy!Annabeth. Percy/Annabeth.
1. Chapter 1

**Cadenza**

Percy isn't so fond of his classmate, Annabeth Chase, but he can't deny that she has amazing taste in music. Music is his life, so when she suggests they go on a road trip across the country to a once-in-a-lifetime concert, he can't say no. No matter how much she annoys him.

**Chapter One**

Percy Jackson wasn't quite sure how his life had come to this.

He'd never been what people called a natural musician, and it was coming back to bite him in the ass. Yes, he loved playing guitar, yes, he had a little bit of talent but _yes, _he'd worked his fingers until they bled. And now he was doing that again, three-thirty in the morning, trying to play this song without screwing it up.

"This _fucking_ riff," he muttered to himself, frustrated. He rubbed his rather sore, calloused fingertips with his thumbs before running a hand through his hair. He should've practiced more, but this semester was crazy and before he knew it, his exam was in less than twelve hours.

He closed his tired eyes for a moment, taking a couple of deep breaths in and out. Percy didn't get into one of the world's best contemporary music colleges for nothing. The proficiency was just the final for one course out of the eight he took that semester. He wasn't going to fail because he screwed up a little bit. With that thought in mind, he straightened his electric guitar and fixed the tuning, trying to ignore his aching back.

"There's no one else here, Jackson," he whispered to himself. "You can do this." He closed his eyes, beginning the intro by memory. He could do this. _He_ _could._

Before he knew it, he was at the bridge, his foot tapping to his inner metronome, his fingers shredding the riff he'd been struggling with, because at this point it was muscle memory – or at least, he hoped to any god up there that it was.

Anticipation built up inside of him, because if he could just get through the bridge without stopping, just _once_, he knew he could do it again, and he was almost there, _just four more bars –_

"Excuse me, do you mind you using headphones?"

Percy almost screamed at the voice, his fingers halting on his fret board. For _fuck's sake,_ he'd almost got through that entire fucking bridge if it weren't for this _fucking _person and _gods_ he was so tired and his fingers were aching and _fuck. _He took a deep breath before opening his eyes to the person who'd decided to barge into his tiny little practice room.

"_What_?" he asked, trying not to snap at her.

The intruder was blonde, which was distracting, because Percy really liked blondes. But she had curly hair with a slightly wild personality to it, and it matched the look in her eyes.

Her eyes narrowed at his tone in his voice, and she pointed to his headphones. "Can you use them?"

"Why?" he all but whined, rubbing his eyes tiredly.

"Because I'm trying to record –" she jabbed her thumb in the direction of another practice room "– and your amp is bleeding into my microphone."

Percy wasn't convinced. Normally, he wouldn't mind, but he was exhausted and his headphones hurt his ears after a while. Besides, this girl had interrupted his practicing that stupid bridge _right _when he had almost played it through perfectly – who _did_ that, anyway?

"Fine," he grumbled. She nodded and closed the door shut behind her. Just like that, no "thank you" or acknowledgement that she appreciated what he agreed to. As if he was obligated to wear his headphones for her, just because she'd barged in and rudely demanded him to do it.

Without another thought, he turned to his amp and twisted the knob labelled 'MASTER VOLUME' all the way up.

* * *

A/N: Hey guys! New fic, drabble-y, will update frequently. (Also will update Threadbare soon, for those readers!).

I go to music school, am a musician and wanted to write this fic. Ta-da!

Let me know what you think in a review :)


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

Annabeth Chase was a little more than frustrated.

She wanted to have a good product for her Pro Tools final - after all, if the prof didn't have to deal with a shitty recording, he'd mark in a better mood - but recording in a studio for a school project was just too expensive. She shared a dorm room with two roommates who didn't like to shut up, which meant the only place left was the practice rooms.

Unfortunately, practice rooms during finals were always crowded and they weren't quite soundproofed. She decided to take a nap and wait until three in the morning, when everyone had gone to bed. She hoped finals had tired the insomniacs out enough so she could take advantage of the quiet practice rooms.

It worked... except for one guy. Practicing electric guitar.

Annabeth chose the practice room farthest away from him, hoping that would be enough to block out the sound. She set up her microphone on a stand and plugged it into her interface - a small box that converted the microphone signal so she could record using her computer. She connected the interface to her laptop and started up Pro Tools, the music editing software, but for some reason, it wasn't recognizing her microphone.

Shit.

She hated Pro Tools for this reason. There was always so many input and outputs and hard drive and all this other crap she had to change every time she wanted to record, and it always took so long to fiddle around until all the settings were right. Sighing to herself, she clicked around, trying to get the connection.

Twenty minutes later, she still hadn't figured it out.

"Fucking shitty piece of _shit_ why can't you work?" she ground out, pushing her blonde hair out of her face. She was beginning to panic; this project was due tomorrow and she still needed to record the vocals and mix it.

She was still too new to the world of music engineering, and it seemed as though everyone had started before her. They'd been mixing music for years, and Annabeth couldn't even get the microphone working.

"Okay," she said tiredly to herself, crossing her legs underneath her. "The microphone is in input one on the interface. The interface is connected to the computer. My settings are set to my interface. So why can't I..." She trailed off.

The interface wasn't even on.

Annabeth wanted to smack herself in the face.

She quickly flipped the switch and the thing lit up, and a pop-up on her laptop screen told her it was finally working. She breathed a sigh of relief and tested the microphone, singing into it and listening through her headphones.

And that's when she heard it.

Faintly, the sound of the guy's guitar amp had bled through the microphone.

Annabeth grinded her teeth together. Couldn't he turn it down? Or use his headphones? God, why was he even awake at three – now three-_thirty_ – in the morning, practicing?

She would just ask him to use headphones. It wouldn't be a huge problem. She'd just explain that she was recording. So many people recorded every day, probably even him. He wouldn't mind.

Annabeth opened the door and made her way over to the guy's practice room, peeking into the window. She could only really see half of his face; he was leaning over his guitar in a way she knew from experience was going to give him back problems, and his eyes were closed as he played. He looked very familiar. He had dark hair and a lanky form, and he was cute. Really cute.

And really good at guitar.

She watched him play, not wanting to interrupt. If he practiced like this at three-thirty in the morning, she couldn't imagine how great he would've been when he was fully awake. He had piercings at the end of his right eyebrow and his ears. She wondered if he had any tattoos.

She waited for him, tapping her foot to the beat, becoming more and more impatient as time went on. Didn't he ever take a break? She didn't want to interrupt him, because she would hate if someone did that to her… but she really did need to record.

A minute later, she found herself pushing the door open, an apologetic look on her face, saying, "Excuse me, do you mind using your headphones?"

Immediately, she knew this was a mistake.

As if in slow motion, he stopped playing, scrunching his eyes shut as though he were in pain. _Shit,_ she'd really pissed him off now. He took a deep breath and faced her, and Annabeth realized who he was.

Percy Jackson.

He was slightly famous at their college. Though she'd never really heard him play before then, she'd heard countless people talking about how great he played guitar – electric and acoustic – piano _and_ drums.

"_What_?" he snapped at her.

His eyes were red and he looked very tired, but Annabeth narrowed her eyes at him. Who did he think he was?

She pointed to his headphones sitting on top of his amp. "Can you use them?"

He rubbed his eyes wearily. Annabeth didn't think she was inconveniencing him _this _much – she hardly knew the guy! It was a simple request. He all but whined when he asked, "Why?"

"Because I'm trying to record," she explained, gesturing to her practice room. "Your amp is bleeding into my microphone –"

"Fine," he cut across with finality. Annabeth felt as though she'd been slapped in the face. She quickly nodded and shut the door, hoping her face wasn't as red as she felt. Talented or not, Annabeth honestly didn't want to speak Percy Jackson for another second.

But then he started playing, and she stopped in her tracks.

_That. Little. _Shit_._

"Hey!" she shouted, turning around the throwing the door open again. He was smirking now, and she saw that he'd turned the volume _up._ She shook with frustration. "What's your problem?"

"_My_ problem?" he shot back angrily. "I'm just trying to practice and you barge in here, demanding that I use headphones –"

"I didn't _demand_, I asked!" she insisted. "And you agreed! Besides, I waited for five minutes and you didn't stop playing –"

"So why come in?" he asked accusingly. "I was concentrating!"

"I need to record!"

"And I need to practice!"

"My project is due tomorrow – _today_!"

"My proficiency is today!"

"Oh, come on," Annabeth said, exasperated. "Everyone talks about you like you're some genius. Like you need to practice."

This actually seemed to render him silent – for a few moments.

"Me?" he spluttered, going red in the face. He slung his guitar off and set it down to stand up and face her. "Where the hell did you hear that?"

"Everyone! Does it matter? I just –" Annabeth cut off to take a deep breath. She didn't come here to feed his ego. "I'd just really appreciate it if you used headphones, because I need to quickly finish recording the vocals and I've been trying to get the fucking interface connected for the past half hour –"

"Are you wearing a Nightmare Apocalypse t-shirt?"

"I – _what_?"

"Your shirt," he said, pointing to the logo on Annabeth's black t-shirt. He'd apparently been distracted by the giant moon with a crack down the front – that, or her boobs, but she doubted it. "Is it from Nightmare Apocalypse?"

It was Annabeth's turn to be rendered speechless.

"No one ever knows them," she stammered out, "and anyway, we –"

"You're right," he said, seemingly forgetting he was angry thirty seconds before, "they're one of the most underappreciated bands ever! Did you see them live?"

"I – umm – yeah." She cleared her throat and fingered the hem of her shirt. "A few years ago, they came to my hometown."

"You're so lucky."

"They were amazing," she said, trying to keep the huge smile back. "Absolutely amazing."

"Did you hear they're breaking up?" Percy asked her, his lips turning downwards. "They're doing one last show in LA, and boom… they're done."

"Yeah," she said, suddenly feeling sad. "Yeah, I know. They're one of my favourite bands, too."

"I wish I saw them live," he said wistfully, "at least once."

"Why don't you go to the concert in LA?"

"Sold out," he said mournfully. "Didn't you see? They sold out in an hour."

"Oh," she said. Her face was heating up now, and she remembered tickets sitting in her wallet in her room. "I actually was one of those people."

"You got tickets," he said numbly. "To Nightmare Apocalypse's last show."

Annabeth tried not to grin, because that would definitely rub it in his face. "Yeah."

"Those tickets were ninety-fucking-dollars."

"Yeah."

"_Fuck._"

"It was worth it," she defended, fully smiling now. She couldn't help it. She got tickets to her favourite band – the band that got her _into_ music. "Worth every cent."

"I would've blown all my money on it, too," he said, nodding. He was looking at her in a mixture of jealousy and begrudging respect. "I'd do anything to go."

"Well…" Annabeth had no idea why she was saying this, but the words seemed to tumble out of their own accord. "I have an extra ticket if you want it, but I need a way to get there if you have a car –"

"I have a car," he said excitedly. "Are you serious? I can buy it off you?"

"As long as you get me to LA –"

"Hell yes!" Percy was grinning and practically fist-pumping as he started packing up his guitar. "Yes, it's in about a week, right? Let's leave right after finals!"

Annabeth mentally smacked herself, _again._ Was she seriously going to do this?

"Do you have your phone with you?" he asked, and she silently handed it to him. She was already regretting it, just watching him type his number into her phone. They were just arguing five minutes ago, and now they were planning a road trip to Nightmare Apocalypse?

What. The. Hell.

"What's your name?" he asked, smiling apologetically, holding up her phone. "I'm just texting myself your number."

"Annabeth Chase," she answered, typing it in herself and pressing 'send'. She looked back up at him, a little worried. "We'll need a plan, and I can drive some of the way, and –"

"Don't worry so much," he said dismissively, shoving a bunch of papers into his guitar case. "We'll just get a map or GPS or whatever and head there. It'll be great, you'll see." With that, he hitched up his guitar and amp and headed out. "Nice meeting you, Annabeth Chase."

"Nice meeting you too," she said, her stomach already twisting.

"Good luck with your recording!" he called over his shoulder. She definitely heard a slight teasing in his voice.

_Fuck you too, Jackson,_ she seethed, storming back to her practice room. _Fuck you too._

* * *

A/N: So much for it being a drabble? :P I tried. I hope the music stuff made sense, I might've nerded out a little too much :P

Please review :)


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

Percy thought whoever listened to Nightmare Apocalypse was cool.

Annabeth Chase was not cool.

Don't get him wrong - he _really_ wanted to go to this concert. He thought it was great that she'd let him have her invaluable ticket in exchange for driving her there. He would've done it anyway; it wasn't as if he could afford a plane ticket to LA.

But other than that, she was unlike every girl he'd met/hooked up with. For one thing, it seemed like she'd never heard of a comb; her hair was curly and wild and covered half her face when it wasn't tied back. Another, she seemed constantly irritated at him and could _not_ shut her mouth for a second. Especially about this trip.

She kept bothering him with directions when he had a GPS. Who needed a map when you had a woman with a sexy British accent telling you the route? He'd tried explaining this to Annabeth, but she just kept going on and on about road closings and shit like that.

She had no faith in modern technology.

Though it wouldn't seem like it, since she wouldn't stop sending text after text, demanding to plan the trip.

Then she kept bugging him about weather reports. Percy was from New York City. He knew what snow was. He'd driven in snow before, and besides, they were driving _south_. They wouldn't even have a snow problem after a few hours. He'd told her this multiple times.

So why did she feel a need to pester him about it? Especially in the middle of a party, when he was half-drunk and really needed to get laid. Like, yesterday.

"Annabeth," he groaned, squeezing his eyes shut, "I swear to god, you need to piss off."

"Oh, I'm sorry," she hissed, taking his cup from his hand. "I didn't realize we didn't need to plan a cross-country road trip!"

"We don't _now_!" he snapped back, taking his cup and taking another swing, surveying the crowd. He spotted a blonde with pin-straight hair - a huge difference from Annabeth, and at the moment, that's exactly what he needed.

Percy chose to go to this party specifically because it was at another school. He bumped into Annabeth there by chance, and all she'd done since was badger him and steal his cup as he drank. He'd ask why she was there, but he really just wanted her to shut up.

"It's not my fault you don't respond to your texts," she told him. He noticed she was staring at his piercings in his eyebrow, and wondered if she was mentally coming up with ways to scold him.

"It is your fault," he said. "You're fucking annoying."

"I wouldn't be if you just _answered_ -"

"Can we not do this now?" he said, finally catching the girl's eye. He sent her a small smile. "You need to relax. Our exams just finished today. Think about something else. Drink a little. Get laid."

"Like you're doing," she deadpanned.

"Exactly," he said distractedly, moving to the fridge to get another can of beer. He poured two cups, and gave one to a frazzled Annabeth.

She scowled at him, but took the cup. "I'm not going to sleep with some random guy to relax. That's not relaxing for me at all."

"Then don't," he said indifferently. "Just get drunk off your ass."

"Right, and wake up naked on the street? I don't think so."

"You're right," he said seriously, draining the rest of the can. "No one wants to see that."

"Fuck you," she spat.

"No thanks," he said, snorting. "Now, if you excuse me, I'm going to go have fun."

"I hope your dick gets caught in your pants!" she called after him.

"Fuck you too!"

* * *

A/N: haha I really enjoyed writing that :) I guess this the final teen rating warning. There will be no explicit sex scenes, though probably some mildly explicit heavy make out scenes (but who doesn't enjoy those ;)).

Please review! :)


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

Annabeth woke up distressed the next morning. She'd only agreed to go to that party with her roommates because exams had ended, and she really needed to get her mind off of things. And then Luke was there. Then _Percy_ showed up. Choosing between the two, she definitely decided to acknowledge Percy rather than her Lying Cheating Ex-Boyfriend.

To be perfectly honest, she was really pissed at him anyway. She was giving him her extra ticket in exchange for a ride he would've driven with or without her (given he had a ticket, of course), and he couldn't even answer his damn phone.

He ignored nearly all her texts of trying to make plans, only occasionally answering with "_kk_" and "_shut the fuck up_". He always sent her straight to voicemail. The couple of times she'd bumped into him, he'd brushed her off and gave an excuse like, "I've got an exam to study for" or, "I don't plan shit like this."

But Annabeth was a planner, and it was killing her that nothing about this trip was organized. She knew it would take around fifty hours to drive from Boston to LA, and figured they would drive about ten hours for five days to get there, not counting traffic or toll line-ups or _snow. _She didn't even know where they'd be stopping every night.

And Percy Jackson seemed completely unconcerned.

So she really laid it on. Thick.

Annabeth groaned and covered her face with her blankets. He was annoying and rude and unorganized and dense and if she was being completely honest with herself, all she could think of half the time was what would his tongue piercing feel like if he kissed someone.

Not that she wanted to kiss him. At all. Definitely not. Even if she found piercings and tattoos incredibly sexy –

"Shut up, Annabeth," she whispered to herself, trying not to cringe. She shouldn't even think of going out with Percy. They were too different, and it wouldn't end well.

Not that he would, anyway. He made it clear that he found her an annoying little bitch, and even if Annabeth had really been trying to be, it still stung a little. Not that she'd ever admit it to him.

She urged herself out of bed and to the bathroom, washing her face, brushing her teeth and trying to tame her crazy hair a little. Annabeth had nicknamed her hair The Lion's Mane, because it often was.

Annabeth made her way to the kitchen, tip-toeing to make sure she didn't wake her roommates. Her dorm was apartment-styled, in that each of them had their own room and a common kitchen area.

She wrinkled her nose as she wandered through the hall, seeing a trail of clothing leading to her roommate Kelly's room. Annabeth didn't give a shit if her roommates had guys overnight or slept around, but it was just tacky to strip on their way to her room and leave their clothes all over the hallway – _wait a second._ Annabeth froze in her tracks, staring at the black t-shirt crumpled on the ground.

She recognized that shirt.

Annabeth snatched it from the ground, turning it over in her hands and nearly snorting out loud. The band shirt that had some death metal skull logo on it was definitely Percy's, and he'd definitely been wearing it last night, and he had definitely just slept with Annabeth's crazy roommate.

"What a fucking idiot," she whispered, grinning at his shirt. She clutched it in one hand and quietly opened the door to Kelly's room. That girl never bothered or remembered to lock it, especially when she went out drinking or partying. Annabeth quietly snuck in, trying to keep her giggling to a minimum.

Kelly had taken the majority of space on the single bed, and even in his sleep, Percy looked as though he was concentrating on not falling off. Annabeth carefully snuck beside him and carefully placed a hand over his mouth.

This was enough to wake him. He jerked in his sleep, eyes widening and making muffled sounds behind her hand. Annabeth nearly smacked her forehead when he lurched around, making the most noise he could possibly make with his mouth shut. And then, when he grabbed her arm to push her away, he fell off the bed and _took her with him._

Annabeth was suddenly painfully aware that all of Percy's clothes were in the hall.

"Shhh!" she hushed, scrambling away from Percy and throwing his shirt at him. _Don't look at his penis, don't look at his penis, do NOT look at his penis! _"I'm trying to help you!"

"What the fuck are you doing here?" he whispered furiously, holding his shirt to his crotch. "Did you fucking _follow_ me?"

"No!" she retorted. "Kelly's my roommate!"

"Kelly?"

"The girl you just slept with!"

"Oh, _shit,_" he said, groaning loudly. Annabeth tried to shush him, but he shot her a look. "Newsflash: your roommate does not know when to stop drinking. She is dead to the world."

Annabeth took a deep breath. "Right."

"She's a horrible lay."

"Probably."

"What are you doing?" Percy asked, getting up to retrieve his clothes. "I was going to leave, if that's what you're worried about."

"Yeah, yeah," Annabeth said, hurrying after him and shutting the door. "You should do that now. And hurry."

"Can't stand me that much?"

"Yes." She looked away as he reached for his boxers, trying her best not to stare at his ass. No matter how nice it may have been. "But I'm really doing you a favour."

"How?"

"Kelly is legit going to stalk you."

Percy snorted and hitched his jeans up his legs. "She doesn't even know my name."

"Let's hope she was too drunk to remember your face," Annabeth said, "because if she'd woken up and liked what she saw, she would've made sure to cling to you."

He pulled on his shirt. "I could've handled it."

"Don't sleep with her again," she told him, immediately wishing she hadn't said that. She headed to the kitchen, calling over her shoulder. "Not to tell you who to sleep with, but I wouldn't recommend it."

"Whatever," he said, grabbing his jacket and following her. "I don't like how she practically ripped my clothes off and left them on the floor."

"It's pretty tacky," she said absent-mindedly, reaching into the cupboard for cereal.

"And dirty. Who knows when you guys last cleaned the floor?"

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Want to steal some of Kelly's cereal?"

"Sure," he said. They sat down to eat at the table, the chewing and spoons clacking against the bowls filling the awkward silence. Annabeth didn't think she hated him. Not really. He just annoyed the hell out of her.

And now she didn't know what to say.

"I don't usually do that," Percy blurted out.

Annabeth startled. "What?"

"Sleep around." He looked very uncomfortable, despite the fact that he'd told her the night before to go get laid. Or maybe it was just the drink. "I don't usually have one-night stands."

She shrugged and kept eating. "It's your business."

"I guess you should know," he said. "We've got two weeks together, don't we?"

"Five days going, five days going back."

"And a few days in between for the concert and rest."

"Yeah," she said, shrugging again. "So I guess I shouldn't expect you to pick up girls every night of the trip?"

"Exactly," he said, looking relieved she'd understood. Maybe he didn't quite know why he was saying it in the first place. A few minutes later, he asked, "Have you ever saved another guy from Kelly before?"

"Not really," she told him. "Most of them have enough sense to leave before she wakes up."

"Not _really_?"

"Nope," she lied smoothly, hoping her face wasn't turning red. She kept her eyes on her cereal, eating the last bite. "Can we plan the trip now?"

Percy dropped his face in his hands. "_Why?"_

"So we know what to do!" she reasoned, crossing her arms in front of her. Was it really so much to ask? "We should have a backup in case your GPS breaks, or if it doesn't detect road closings or something."

"Fine, we'll print a map," he said, rolling his eyes. "Anything else?"

"Where we're staying," she pointed out. "Booking hotels, and –"

Percy waved a hand, dismissing it. "Simple. We'll just find a place whenever we want to stop driving."

Annabeth wanted to smack him again. "I want to plan it."

"What _for?_"

"I _need_ to plan it," she corrected, trying to keep her voice calm. "I swear to god I'll go crazy without a plan, and I really just want everything to go smoothly and safely and –"

"Fucking hell," he muttered, standing to put their bowls in the sink. "You get crazier?"

She glared at him.

"Fine, we'll plan it," he agreed, shrugging his jacket on and taking his phone out of his pocket. "As long as you stop nagging me."

"Fine."

"When do we leave, then?"

"The concert's in about week," she said, thinking, "and it takes five days to drive, and we'll want a day in between to rest, so –"

"We leave tomorrow."

Annabeth swallowed dryly, anxiety already stirring her stomach. "Tomorrow."

* * *

A/N: Hope this chapter made you laugh a little ;D Please review!


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